The organisers at NatCon have annouced draft topics for a series of panels at this year’s conference.

I’ll be sitting on the panel: “Where the futurists got it wrong - Aaah, the 21st century at last. But where’s my personal rocket pack, and why doesn’t my mobile work in Halls Gap?”

If you have any comments about the topic, please let me know.

The types of things I’ve been thinking about include:
- examples where SF writers have conceived of futures before they’ve come to fruition
- the inspiration SF has provided for scientists and inventors to create (ie. Jules Verne’s books inspired many of the folk at NASA to dream and think about space travel)
- the role of SF and Futurists in creating a ‘future history’ that informs how we think about the future
- conception is half of creation: which is precisely why some SF authors have argued for the patenting of ideas in their stories

For a list of all the NatCon panels, visit http://www.natcon.org.au/2007/Program_Panels.htm.

Alessio